The world is on fire with no thought for the future of our children, claims influencer and mum-of-two Cat Sims.
Just last night at the world’s most exclusive event, the Oscars, Will Smith hit Chris Rock live on television… and it wasn’t scripted. Here instagram influencer and mum-of-two, Cat Sims shares her thoughts on Will Smith and THAT slap.
“With Will Smith’s not-so-gallant defence of his wife’s honour you could be forgiven for thinking we’d travelled back in time this weekend.
Just when I think we are finally rejecting the traits of toxic masculinity that have blighted our society and the women in it for generations, Will Smith assaults a man on behalf of his wife. A wife who, as far as I can tell, had no intention of giving Chris Rock any reaction aside from a dismissive eye roll.
At the glitzy and globally televised celebration of our most revered and creative heroes, Will Smith slapped a man for being mean about his wife, Jada.
If you didn’t see it, comedian Chris Rock made a joke about seeing Jada Pinkett Smith - who recently spoke out about her insecurities regarding her alopecia - in the next GI Jane movie.
A composed Jada rolled her eyes and sighed at the ‘joke’ that wasn't just cruel, but also embarrassingly cliched: are we still mocking women about their appearance? Apparently, yes, we are.
Meanwhile, Will, after initially laughing, decides it’s not actually funny. He takes the decision to get up from his seat, walk to the stage and slap Chris Rock across the face. A stunned silence echoed around the world.
Later he's presented with the Best Actor Oscar. Consequences? None. No one stopped him, berated him or cast him aside for his violence. What would he have done if it had been a woman making jokes on the stage?
If those with the world's biggest global platform are modelling these toxic gender traits as acceptable then what hope is there for future generations that look up to them? This incident can not be dismissed as a momentary lapse in behaviour.
And while the Hollywood A-lister did apologise, I'm pretty sure "...but love will make you do crazy things" is the war cry of every domestic abuser. In seconds, Will Smith managed to normalise male-on-male violence while some of the most influential people sat and watched, silently.
TV production and editing makes it hard to know exactly how much time it took for Will to decide that violence in fact was the answer, but it was more than enough time for him to have made a different decision.
And, it’s not as if he wasn’t aware that the world was watching him – he made a conscious decision to make an example out of Chirs Rock and in doing so, let down every other good man in that room and around the world.
We tell our kids every day, ‘Don’t resort to violence.’
‘.... Unless you’re the Best Actor Oscar winner Will Smith,’ they can now reply."
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